[ Act No. 2944, February 16, 1921 ]
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS ONE HUNDRED AND TWO AND FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY OF ACT NUMBERED TWENTY-SEVEN HUNDRED AND ELEVEN, COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Legislature assembled and by the amen men authority of the same:
Section 1. Section one hundred and two of Act Numbered Twenty-seven hundred and eleven, otherwise known as the Administrative Code, is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Section 102. Contempt of legislative body or committee.- Any person who, being summoned to attend as a witness before the Philippine Legislature, or either House thereof, or before any committee of either of said bodies lawfully clothed with authority to take testimony, fails or refuses, without legal excuse, to attend pursuant to such summons, and any person who, being present before any such body or committee, willfully refuses to be sworn or placed under affirmation or to answer any legal inquiry or to produce, upon reasonable notice, any material and proper books, papers, documents, records, or other evidence in his possession or under his control, required by any such body, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed one thousand pesos, or imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both such fine and imprisonment."
Section 2. Section five hundred and eighty of said Act Numbered Twenty-seven hundred and eleven is hereby amended to read as follows :
"Section 580. Powers incidental to taking of testimony.- When authority to take testimony or evidence is conferred upon an administrative officer or upon any nonjudicial person, committee, or other body, such authority shall be understood to comprehend the right to administer oaths and summon witnesses and shall include authority to require the production of documents under a subpoena duces tecum or otherwise, subject in all respects to the same restrictions and qualifications as apply in judicial proceedings of a similar character.ℒαwρhi৷
"Saving the provisions of section one hundred and two of this Act, any one who, without lawful excuse, fails to appear upon summons issued under the authority of the preceding paragraph or who, appearing before any individual or body exercising the power therein defined, refuses to make oath, give testimony, or produce documents for inspection, when thereunto lawfully required, shall be subject to discipline as in case of contempt of court and upon application of the individual or body exercising the power in question shall be dealt with by the judge of first instance having jurisdiction of the case in the manner provided by law."
Section 3. This Act shall take effect on its approval.
Approved, February 16, 1921.
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